Market Announcements
Market Summary
Heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare surprised some commentators with another strong annual financial result yesterday, driving the New Zealand sharemarket higher by more than 0.7%. The S&P/NZX 50 Index reached a morning high of 13,182.35 following Fisher & Paykel’s bumper release, then cooled off in the afternoon to close at 13,069.74, up 99.46 points, or 0.77%. There were 89 gainers and 50 decliners on the main board with volumes reaching 40.3 million shares worth $165.5m. Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare surged $3.07 or 9.12% to $36.73 on trade worth $29.23m.
Medical devices supplier Fisher & Paykel reported a 14% increase in revenue to $2.31b and a 24% rise in net profit to $468.5m for the 12 months ending March. It is paying a final dividend of 33c a share on July 3 – an increase of 38%. The hospital product group revenue was up 18% to $1.51b despite a softer flu season in the United States, and the homecare division contributed $802.7m, up 8%. Commentators were worried that Fisher & Paykel’s margins would be squeezed, but instead they grew to 63.7%, up 80 basis points, including a 90-basis-point impact from US tariffs. Fisher & Paykel forecast revenue of $2.45b-$2.57b and net profit of $500m-$550m for the 2027 financial year.
Infratil dropped 81c, or 5.07%, to $15.17 following its annual results, after a strong run in the lead-up. Infratil slipped behind Meridian Energy as the third-largest local stock by market capitalisation. Infratil reported an 11% increase in operating earnings (ebitdaf) to $989m for the 12 months ending March, primarily driven by its investments in Australian CDC data centres and US renewable energy business Longroad, which is supplying power to a Meta data centre. The company said demand for efficient AI infrastructure is striking and may be the investment opportunity of a lifetime. Infratil is paying a final dividend of 13.65c a share on June 29.
Other stocks Ryman Healthcare, up 3c to $2.22, reported full-year operating revenue of $849.1m, up 10%; operating earnings (ebitdaf) of $88.3m, a rise of 94%; and a net loss of $171.3m. Ryman, which owns 47 retirement villages with 9,959 units, told the market that positive free cash flow of $188m was the first in a decade, following gross savings of $57m over the past two years. Its net tangible assets were valued at $4.07b or $4 a share. Ryman had sales of 1,410, 348 new and 1,062 resale, down 7% from the previous year. Summerset increased 32c or 4.25% to $7.85; Oceania Healthcare gained 2c or 2.74% to 75c; Fletcher Building was up 8c or 2.57% to $3.19; and Gentrack collected 12c or 3.23% to $3.83. Vista Group was up 5c or 2.2% to $2.30; Blackpearl Group added 2c or 2.99% to 69c; Metro Performance Glass gained 5c or 4.76% to $1.10; and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ increased 19c or 6.01% to $3.35 after holdings it annual meeting.
The dual-listed banks, ANZ, added $1.66, or 3.84%, to $44.88, and Westpac collected 88c, or 1.9%, to $45.03. Mainfreight was down 19c to $58; Ebos Group declined 55c or 2.72% to a near eight-year low of $19.69; and Port of Tauranga decreased 16c or 1.96% to $8.02.
NZ King Salmon Investments rose 3.5c or 16.28% to 25c after reporting a 6% increase in revenue to $100.25m and a turnaround from a loss of $20.8m to net profit of $13.81m for the six months ending March. Sales volume increased to 2,799 metric tonnes, from 2,624MT. NZ King upgraded its full-year operating earnings (ebitda) guidance to $23m-$29m, up from $19m-$27m, but its harvest remains the same at 5800-6100MT.
Goodman NZ, up 0.005c to $1.95, reported full-year revenue of $233.9m, down 15.8% and operating earnings after tax of $127.6, up 2.1%. Goodman’s properties under management were valued at $4.9b following a $11.2m revaluation gain.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 3 points lower at 8677.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has pared some early losses, as investors weigh fresh US strikes on Iran against White House assurances of an impending peace deal.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 34.2 points on Tuesday, down 0.39 per cent, to 8,657.8, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 32.8 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 8,882.6.
Energy and utilities stocks were heavy despite an uptick in oil prices, as investors took profits on hopes a US-Iran peace deal could be negotiated within days, despite US forces striking targets in southern Iran.
The two nations reportedly remain divided on the Hormuz Strait, Tehran's nuclear ambitions and frozen Iranian funds.
Financials weighed heavily on the bourse as all big four banks and Macquarie fell into the red, while insurers and investment firms also faced selling pressure.
Basic materials stocks made up the only segment to finish higher, carving a meagre 0.2 per cent improvement as BHP, Rio Tinto and South32 ballasted weakness in gold stocks.
Gold itself eased to $US4,530 ($A6,322) an ounce pushing the precious metal's sub-index one per cent lower.
Energy stocks were a sea of red, despite Brent crude edging higher to $US95.60 a barrel, still well short of the previous week's above-$US110 price and indicating investors were largely looking past resurgent tensions in the Persian Gulf.
Refinery operators Ampol and Viva energy also lost ground.
Coal miners backed off from Monday's rally, which followed a deadly fire at a mine in China that killed at least 82 people and stoked supply concerns.
Airlines were mixed, with Qantas hanging onto Monday's gains to trade flat at $9.18, while Virgin, which runs direct Middle East services substantially disrupted by the conflict, lost 1.5 per cent.
Real estate stocks, consumer cyclicals and IT companies edged lower in ultimately modest moves ahead of April consumer price index data due Wednesday.
March's CPI data delivered a notable jump, with headline inflation rising to 4.6 per cent in the year to March 2026 ??? the highest reading since September 2023, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
The market is expecting headline inflation to ease to 4.4 per cent, while the trimmed mean is forecast to firm to 3.4 per cent.
"An outcome in line with these expectations, combined with last week's softer labour force report, should give the RBA enough cover to keep rates on hold next month," Mr Sycamore said.
In company news, bourse operator ASX Limited tumbled more than 13 per cent after raising next year's expense forecast range by $20 million to between $180 million and $200 million, driven by modernisation and its response to a regulator probe.
Online retailer Kogan swung hard in the other direction, soaring more than 18 per cent as its gross profit swelled by almost a fifth in the 10 months to April.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.65 US cents, roughly steady with 71.66 US cents on Monday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 dropped 34.2 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 8,657.8
The broader All Ordinaries lost 32.8 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 8,882.6
The NZX 50 added 58.25 points (0.44%) to 13127.99
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Ainsworth Game Technology Limited
Eagers Automotive Limited
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Amcor Plc
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.2% to 50,461.68, the S&P 500 added 0.6% to 7,519.12 and the Nasdaq gained 1.2% to 26,656.18.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Micron Technology Inc MU surging 19.54%, ON Semiconductor Corp ON jumped 9.29%, and Teradyne Inc TER lifted 8.62%.
The biggest decliners were AutoZone Inc AZO which dropped 8.99%, Tractor Supply Co TSCO fell 5.76%, and Intuit Inc INTU lost 4.85%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 4,145.37 and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 0.6% to 2,872.32.
Hong Kong shares ended flat. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was unchanged at 25,599.45.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.2% to 64,996.09.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX declined 0.6% to 76,009.70.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 0.2% to 10,491.39. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX declined 0.8% to 25,184.89, and the France's CAC 40 declined 1% to 8,173.11
